Exploit attempts accelerate
An international effort to secure systems running PHP continued on Thursday, with governments and companies deploying urgent fixes issued by the software’s developers on Wednesday. Aikido Security co-founder Madeline Lawrence said attacks had been reported following the disclosure of vulnerability details before patches were available.
Cloudflare chief executive Matthew Prince reported that attempted exploitation had reached the millions. He said Cloudflare recorded thousands of attempts during the 10 hours preceding the public announcement, followed by tens of thousands within 45 minutes and hundreds of thousands within two hours.
Thailand and Japan protect sensitive services
Thai authorities called for urgent updates to PHP-based websites and systems over the risk of personal data exposure, according to the Bangkok Post. Universities and medical school hospitals were instructed to give priority to databases containing student information and patient records.
Japanese financial, transport and insurance companies temporarily limited some online services while taking emergency security measures. Government bodies also imposed restrictions: the Ministry of Finance and Meteorological Agency partially suspended online functions, and the National Tax Agency took its service offline temporarily.
European sites begin returning
DW reported that many websites in Germany were back online following installation of the PHP fix. Security officials cautioned that determining whether any hacking had occurred would take time.
Finland’s Valtori began removing some precautionary restrictions on government web services as patching continued. The state IT provider said the disruption was not the result of a breach or exploitation known to it. Director General Hannu Naumanen warned that updates and testing could leave restoration work continuing for days or weeks.